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Barrington Stevens III has embraced leadership role at point guard position for South Alabama Jaguars

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South Alabama sophomore guard Barrington Stevens III contributes 7.1 points and 2.0 rebounds per game for the Jaguars who travel to Louisiana-Monroe for an important Sun Belt Conference game on Thursday. (Photo courtesy of South Alabama)

MOBILE, Alabama - Last season, Barrington Stevens III went
from being a standout prep player to a freshman playing Division I college
basketball. This season, with a year of limited experience under his belt, the
South Alabama point guard was asked to play the role of a veteran in the
backcourt, helping the Jaguar freshmen adapt to their new surroundings, new
system and new experiences.

The 5-foot-10, 180-pounder from Allen, Texas, has made the
transition, and it this season has been a transition for him as well. New coaching
staff, new system, new role. As the season reaches its final stage, Stevens is
becoming the veteran player he was, by circumstances, asked to become.

"I think it's extremely challenging,'' South Alabama head
coach Matthew Graves said of the roles Stevens was asked to accept. "First, any
time you go through a coaching change you're trying to learn a new system and
adapt to a new style and also, in his situation coming in as a sophomore, it's
not like he played a ton of minutes (last season). On top of that, you've got
three older guys in Antoine (Allen) and Augustine (Rubit) and Mychal (Ammons) that
everyone is talking about as guys who could be potential leaders of the team.

"So he was in a tough position. I think early on he did a
good job and throughout the middle part of the season, around Christmas, he
struggled some. But he hung tough and he came to work every day. His patience
and work ethic are really starting to shine through as we head down the stretch
here.''

Stevens said he has noticed the change in his game and he
has become more comfortable in the latter stages of the season.

"It's something that I had to embrace,'' he said. "I didn't
have any time to sit back and say, 'Who can I look up to?' You just have to
take that year you have under your belt and get better. I think I've grown with
this coaching staff at being more mature at the point guard position.

"I think (assistant coach) Russ (Willemsen) and coach Graves
and coach (Darrnell) Archey especially, with the workouts, have gotten me to
slow down and not dribble as much and to make better decisions with the ball.
With their help, it has made the transition easier for me to do that.''

Stevens and his teammates have produced better offensive
results over the past couple of weeks, a change that will need to continue as
the Jaguars face their final four games of the season, each game important to
the Jags' hopes of reaching the Sun Belt Conference tournament. Currently in
last place in the league, only the top eight teams in the 10-team league reach
the tournament. Still, a strong finish - and a little help - would find South
Alabama qualifying for the tournament.

As such, the play from the Jags' perimeter players,
especially at the point, takes on added importance now.

"It's going to be pretty tough. ... It's just a matter of
taking it one game at a time, not necessarily saying, we've got to win three
out of our next four,'' Stevens said. "If we just get everybody to be
comfortable getting this next game and then moving on to the next one; playing
every game like it's a championship game really. If we have that mindset, I
think we'll be OK.

"It's been a struggle all season to put two halves together.
We're the type of team that can come out, for example against Western Kentucky
and Troy, when we were up by 20-plus points in the first half in both games.
But in the second half we gave up 40-plus points and that's just not
acceptable. ... We've got to hold each other accountable and make sure we come
out with the same attitude that we had in the first half.''

Heading into the final four games of the regular season,
beginning with a road trip Thursday at Louisiana-Monroe, Stevens is averaging
7.1 points and 2.0 rebounds a game in 28.6 minutes per game. He leads the team
with 76 assists (30 more than the two players who share second place), while
producing the third-best free throw percentage (73.1) and he's tied for third
in steals (17).

"It's just learning to change the pace up during the game,
when to push and when to pull back,'' Stevens said of directing the Jags'
offense. "We have a chance, when he get a (defensive) stop, it's our DNA, to
get a run, a quick transition, maybe get a three or quick post-ups to Aug and
Mike, to get quick and easy buckets.

"I felt like the reason why we weren't successful before is
we used to come down and sometimes take quick shots that weren't necessarily
the best shots. I think we've learned as a team which shots are best for the
team. If we get an open shot coming down in transition, we'll take that. If we
can get a nice pull-up jumper that's uncontested, we'll take that. Anything
that's an easy shot. If we don't get stops we have to slow it up and get a shot
while the defense is set up.

"I started off the season pretty well, but then I hit a
wall. The coaches had the trust in me to come in and lead this team. With me
being one of the older guards on the team, which is pretty surprising. ... I'm
actually getting better at embracing it and it's helping me become a better
player and the game has really slowed down for me.''

Graves said he has seen a positive change in Stevens'
approach to the game and it's a change he hopes continues in these final games.

"It's a very big difference,'' Graves said of the change in
Stevens' game. "I was always impressed, when we first started doing individual
workouts last April, he always played at a very good pace and worked at a very
good pace. But he didn't talk a whole lot in terms of encouraging other guys to
be in the right spots or to get on guys and tell them to get in the right
spots. It's a two-way street.

"As the season has gone on, he's gotten better, not only in
knowing what we want from him, but also in understanding where players can be
in the roles they have on this team and being able to put them in good
positions for us to be successful.''